1955 NASCAR Grand National Series
The 1955 NASCAR Grand National (now Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series) Season began on November 7, 1954, and ended on October 30, 1955. Even though the season was resolved in the course of two different years, all NASCAR personnel were allowed to have their traditional two-month silly season that traditionally comes between mid-November and mid-February. Tim Flock won the 1955 championship by a margin of 1508 over top of Buck Baker. This season was unusual because of its 11-month season (as opposed to the current 10-month season format). As the ninth season of the series now known as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, most of the drivers involved were still the first-generation race car drivers. They did not have any ties to the stock car racing world through their parents or grandparents although some of them served in World War II prior to their NASCAR careers. However, the generation that would gain notoriety and fame through nepotism (i.e., their father or older brother having a ride before them) would emerge about ten years later. The average horsepower of a stock car competing the 1955 NASCAR Grand National season would be 230 horsepower (approximately 620 less horsepower than the vehicles used in the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup season). The first race of the season was held at Tri-City Speedway in High Point, North Carolina, while the last race of the season was held at Orange Speedway in Hillsboro, North Carolina. During this time, it was customary for the majority of the tracks to be dirt tracks as 40 out of the 45 races were raced in that manner. Dirt track racing helped produce the lower speeds that kept the action safe decades prior to the Car of Tomorrow. The move to paved tracks in later decades would produce dangerous speeds that would cause research to move towards making cars safer to drive as opposed to making cars faster. There would be approximately 20 more years of dirt racing before paved oval racing would finally become the expected norm for NASCAR racing. Races Wilkes County 160 The 1955 Wilkes County 160 was a NASCAR Grand National (now Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series) race that took place on April 3, 1955, at North Wilkesboro Speedway in the American community of North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. One hundred and sixty laps were done on a dirt track spanning . The total duration of the race was one hour, twenty-two minutes, and three seconds with no cautions. Buck Baker defeated Dick Rathmann by three feet. Top ten finishers # Buck Baker # Dick Rathmann # Curtis Turner # Lee Petty† # Eddie Skinner # Dave Terrell # Jimmie Lewallen # Gene Simpson # Joel Million # Blackie Pitt 1955-15 This race took place at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia, on May 15, 1955. Jim Paschal won the pole position at the speed of 58.823 miles per hour but Tim Flock won the race with one other vehicle on the lead lap (Lee Petty). Eleven thousand people attended the one-hour-and-fifty-four-minute race. The average speed of the race was 52.554 miles per hour. Top 10 Results #300- Tim Flock #42- Lee Petty #55- Junior Johnson #88- Jimmie Lewallen #44- Bob Welborn #87- Buck Baker #121- Harvey Henderson #28- Eddie Skinner #78- Jim Paschal #71- Fred Dove Richmond 200 The 1955 Richmond 200 was a NASCAR Grand National (now Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series) race that took place on May 22, 1955, at Richmond Fairgrounds (now Richmond International Raceway) in the American community of Richmond, Virginia. Two hundred laps took place on a dirt track spanning . The exact time of the race was one hour, fifty minutes, and thirty seconds. Qualifying was rained out so they had to draw for the pole position. Top ten finishers # Tim Flock† # Fonty Flock† # Lee Petty† # Jim Paschal† # Junior Johnson # Bob Welborn # Gene Simpson # Elmo Langley† # Volney Schulze # George Parrish † signifies that the driver is known to be deceased 1955 Mid-South 250 The 1955 Mid-South 250 is a NASCAR Grand National race that took place on August 14, 1955, at the Memphis-Arkansas Speedway in LeHi, Arkansas. Fifteen thousand people attended this race. Top Ten Finishers #301- Fonty Flock #87- Speedy Thompson #300- Tim Flock #78- Jim Paschal #89- Buck Baker #44- Bob Welborn #55- Junior Johnson #14- Slick Smith #3- Jimmy Ayers #23- Ken Johns Southern 500 The 1955 Southern 500 took place on September 5 at the Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. Herb Thomas won that race while Fireball Roberts started out at the pole position. This race can be seen on DVDs showing classic stock cars of the 1950s and the 1960s. As one of the major stock cars race to take place prior to the 1959 Daytona 500, it was considered to be an honor to qualify for this race. Many locals would enter this race as an annual tradition and have their mechanics work on their cars for a month just for this race. Top 10 Results #92- Herb Thomas #7- Jim Reed #16- Tim Flock #2- Gwyn Staley #96- Larry Flynn #89- Buck Baker #93- Lou Spears #70- Cotton Owens #25- Bill Widenhouse #04- Jimmy Massey 1955-42 This race took place at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia, on October 16, 1955. Speedy Thompson won the race but Gwyn Staley won the pole position by virtue of a drawing. The duration of the race was one hour and forty minutes. Top 10 Results #30- Speedy Thompson #49- Bob Welborn #44- Jim Paschal #92- Herb Thomas #7- Jim Reed #9- Joe Weatherly #2- Gwyn Staley #42- Lee Petty #04- Jimmy Massey #87- Buck Baker 1955 LeHi 300 The 1955 LeHi 300 (known officially in NASCAR as 1955-40) was a NASCAR Grand National Series racing event that took place on October 9, 1955, at Memphis-Arkansas Speedway in the American community of LeHi, Arkansas. NASCAR Cup Series beginners in this race included Johnny Allen, Bill Morton, Jim Murray, Norm Nelson, and Chuck Stevenson. A lot of drivers would make their grand exits from NASCAR after this race: this relatively long list included Floyd Curtis, Hooker Hood, Roscoe Rann and Leland Sewell. One-time race car drivers Bob Coleman, Al Hager, and Gene Rose would make their only NASCAR appearances during this race. Top ten finishers # 297-Speedy Thompson # 98-Marvin Panch # 04-Jimmy Massey # 300-Tim Flock # 308-Bob Flock # 87-Buck Baker # 88-Jimmie Lewallen # 44-Ralph Liguori # B29-Dink Widenhouse # 49-Bob Welborn 1955 Wilkes 160 The 1955 Wilkes 160 is a NASCAR Grand National race that took place on October 23, 1955, at the North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. Buck Baker defeated Lee Petty by a time of three seconds. This race would produce Joe Weatherly's first finish in the top five. Top 10 Results #87- Buck Baker #42- Lee Petty #2- Gwyn Staley #9- Joe Weatherly #300- Tim Flock #301- Fonty Flock #20- Speedy Thompson #B-29- Dink Widenhouse #198- Dave Terrell #44- Jim Paschal 1955-45 This race took place at Orange Speedway in Hillsboro, North Carolina, on October 16, 1955. Tim Flock both won the pole position at the speed of 81.673 miles per hour and won the race with five other vehicles on the lead lap. Six thousand people attended the one-hour-and-sixteen-minute race. The pole speed was recorded as 81.673 miles per hour while the average speed was 70.465 miles per hour. Top 10 Results #301- Tim Flock #99- Curtis Turner #87- Buck Baker #92- Herb Thomas #198- Dave Terrell #9- Joe Weatherly #B-29- Dink Widenhouse #2- Gwyn Staley #04- Jimmy Massey #44- Bob Welborn Season standings Points # Tim Flock - 9596 # Buck Baker - 8088 # Lee Petty - 7194 # Bob Welborn - 5460 # Herb Thomas - 5186 # Junior Johnson - 4810 # Eddie Skinner - 4652 # Jim Paschal - 4572 # Jimmie Lewallen - 4526 # Gwyn Staley - 4360 # Fonty Flock - 4266 # Dave Terrell - 3170 # Jimmy Massey - 2924 # Marvin Panch - 2812 # Speedy Thompson - 2452 # Jim Reed - 2416 # Gene Simpson - 2388 # Dick Rathmann - 2298 # Ralph Liguori - 2124 # Joe Eubanks - 2028 # Blackie Pitt - 1992 # Harvey Henderson - 1930 # Banks Simpson - 1852 # Dink Widenhouse - 1752 # John Dodd, Jr. - 1496 # Bill Widenhouse - 1444 # Lou Spears - 1272 # Larry Flynn - 1260 # Cotton Owens - 1248 # Gordon Smith - 1212 # Billy Carden - 1172 # Arden Mounts - 1170 # Joe Million - 1136 # Curtis Turner - 1120 # John Lindsay - 1052 # Nace Mattingly - 992 # Bill Blair - 974 # Donald Thomas - 932 # Ed Cole - 924 # Mack Hanbury - 900 # Danny Letner - 892 # George Parish - 880 # Banjo Matthews - 860 # Carl Krueger - 748 # Ted Cannaday - 744 # Allen Adkins - 740 # Joe Weatherly - 724 # John McVitty - 684 # Lloyd Dane - 674 # Fred Dove - 668 Wins # Tim Flock - 18 # Lee Petty - 6 # Junior Johnson - 5 # Buck Baker - 3 # Herb Thomas - 3 # Jim Paschal - 3 # Fonty Flock - 3 # Speedy Thompson - 2 # Danny Letner - 1 # all others at 0 wins Top 5 Finishes # Tim Flock - 32 # Buck Baker - 24 # Lee Petty - 20 # Herb Thomas - 14 # Bob Welborn - 12 # Junior Johnson - 12 # Jim Paschal - 12 # Jimmie Lewallen - 8 # Gwyn Staley - 7 # Dick Rathmann - 7 # Eddie Skinner - 4 # Jimmy Massey - 4 # Marvin Panch - 4 # Jim Reed - 4 # Curtis Turner - 4 # Dave Terrell - 3 # Speedy Thompson - 3 # Don White - 3 # Billy Carden - 2 # Joe Million - 2 # Donald Thomas - 2 # Danny Letner - 2 # Allen Adkins - 2 # Gober Sosebee - 2 # Bill Amack - 2 # Fred Dove - 2 # Gene Simpson - 1 # Harvey Henderson - 1 # John Dodd, Jr. - 1 # Bill Widenhouse - 1 # Larry Flynn - 1 # Cotton Owens - 1 # Nace Mattingly - 1 # Carl Krueger - 1 # Joe Weatherly - 1 # Lloyd Dane - 1 # Ray Duhigg - 1 # Bill Hyde - 1 # Bob Flock - 1 # John Kieper - 1 # Jack Choquette - 1 # Bill West - 1 # Norm Nelson - 1 # Clyde Palmer - 1 # all others at 0 top five finishes References * Racing Reference - 1955 Season Standings (Archived 2009-07-21) * Racing Reference - 1955 Grand Nationals Results (Archived 2009-07-21) * 1955 Ford NASCAR Stock Car (Archived 2009-07-21) * Category:Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series seasons